


Steve and the Starkosaurus (The Round the Clock Remix)

by Veldeia



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Animal Transformation, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dinosaurs, Domestic Avengers, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Pre-Relationship, Remix, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-22 18:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9619730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/pseuds/Veldeia
Summary: A spell turns Tony into aVelociraptor, and somehow, Steve ends up dino-sitting. It's not the worst day either of them have had.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Steve/Tony drabbles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8535535) by [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda). 
  * In response to a prompt by [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda) in the [Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness_2017) collection. 



> I just had to remix the first ficlet, [Tony is a Velociraptor](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8535535/chapters/19567429), from Fluffypanda's Steve/Tony drabble collection. Because I was intrigued by the "Dinosaurs" and "Animal Transformation" tags, clicked on the fic, and oooohh, Tony is a dinosaur, this is my new favorite animal transformation of all time! So, I decided to write some more words about dino!Tony. Somehow, "some words" became "quite a few words". I hope you don't mind a ton of domestic dino fluff.
> 
> Beta'd by the awesome [antigrav_vector](http://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector) and the lovely [Lets_call_me_Lily](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Lets_call_me_Lily/profile)!
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm 100% certain having a _Velociraptor_ as a pet is a terrible idea and I would not recommend it. They were definitely not this cute and fluffy in nature, even if they weren't [very big](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Vraptor-scale.png). ~~However, if you do find one please let me know.~~

"You should look like the relic that you actually are," Loki quipped as he flung the spell in Steve's direction.

Steve ducked in an attempt to dodge the magic, but it turned out to be unnecessary: in a flash of red and gold, faster than Steve could shout "Tony, no", Iron Man swooped in front of him and took the hit, and there was another flash of light, and Iron Man was—something else.

On top of an inert Iron Man armor rested a small animal covered in shimmering feathers that mimicked the armor's coloring. Steve covered the distance to it in a few long strides. On closer inspection, the feathered thing had a long tail and a neck ending in a reptilian head. Steve couldn't remember ever seeing an animal quite like this, but one thing was clear: it wasn't happy at all. It flopped off the armor and onto its side, revealing slender arms and legs with sharp claws, and made distressed squawking noises.

Steve knelt by the creature and put a cautious hand on its feathered flank to give it a reassuring pat. The creature turned its lizard-like head to peer at him and screeched some more. From up close, it was even clearer how the creature's coloring reflected that of Tony's armor; it even had a round white patch on the red feathers of its front where the arc reactor might've been.

Shifting around so he could keep one soothing hand on the creature's side, Steve reached to open the mask of the Iron Man suit. Just as he'd expected, there was no one inside the armor.

There was little doubt about it: this odd feathered lizard was Tony.

"You will undo what you did to Iron Man, brother!" Thor boomed. Steve raised his eyes from the squirming creature that was Tony to see Thor land next to Loki, his hammer raised menacingly.

Earlier during the battle, Loki had disappeared every time Thor had tried to lay a hand on him, but now, he held his ground. "Eh, I don't think so. This amuses me," Loki said.

Thor grabbed Loki by the throat, lifting him up. "YOU WILL CHANGE HIM BACK," he repeated, voice growing even louder.

"Nope," Loki mouthed, looking perfectly unconcerned with the lack of air. "Can't."

"Of course you can," Natasha interjected. She had moved in to stand by Loki's side as well, skewering him with her most dangerous glare. "You did that to him, you can cancel the spell, too."

Thor let go of Loki, who raised a hand to rub at his neck, his infuriating grin still in place. "Well, I could, but why go through all that trouble. It'll wear off in a day anyway," he said with a shrug. "Consider this a favor! At least you'll be free of Stark's wisecracking for a while."

Loki stepped back, and vanished into thin air just as Thor swung Mjölnir at him.

Clint leaped down from his perch on the roof of a nearby car to join the rest of the team. "Bet he could've made his escape at any point and just stayed around to gloat."

"Most certainly," Thor agreed.

"How's Stark?" Natasha asked, turning towards Steve and the creature that Tony had become.

The small red and gold animal had settled down somewhat, falling quiet for the duration of the conversation, but he was still trembling under Steve's hand, his slender side rising and falling with rapid breaths. Steve ruffled Tony's feathers in a hopefully soothing manner.

"He's—I have no idea what he is," Steve said. "He sure isn't happy. Not that I can blame him."

"He's the weirdest bird I've ever seen," Clint said, squinting at Tony. "Also, he's tiny!"

Tony shook off Steve's hand, stood up and hissed at Clint. He really wasn't very big, probably not even two feet at the hip, though with his neck extended, it seemed like the full length from his nose to the tip of his tail was closer to seven.

Natasha raised her eyebrows at Thor. "Is this something you can recognize? A magical beast of some kind?"

"Nay, I have not come across such a creature before," Thor said.

"I guess we'd better take him to Bruce, maybe he'll know," Steve said. "Come on, Tony. We're going home. It's gonna be okay."

Moving as slowly as he could, not to frighten the skittish animal any further, Steve crouched to wrap his arms around Tony. Surprisingly enough, Tony didn't resist at all, but let Steve pick him up, settling into his hold. He seemed to weigh less than Steve would've expected, far lighter than a dog of a similar size would have been.

"What do you know, I think he likes you," Clint joked.

Now, that would be something, Tony liking him. Steve had been struggling to build some kind of a working relationship with Tony for months now, after the team had moved into the Tower, but he just didn't seem to be getting anywhere. He got along with the rest of the team just fine. On the battlefield, he and Tony worked seamlessly together, but during downtime, everything he said seemed wrong. They could barely hold a civilized conversation for half a minute before Tony either turned it into a joke, or the whole thing escalated into an argument. It was obvious to Steve that Tony didn't like him. He was surprised Tony had taken that hit meant for him today, but then again, Tony did tend to act first and think later in combat situations, and seemed to be just as reckless as Steve was when it came to personal risk.

Clint wasn't wrong, though. The small feathered version of Tony in Steve's arms didn't seem to mind him at all. He remained quite calm on Steve's lap all through their flight back to the Tower, and whined mournfully when placed on the exam table in Bruce's lab.

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me he's a dinosaur?" Bruce exclaimed excitedly as soon as he set his eyes on Tony.

"He's a what?" Steve blurted out.

"But he's all fluffy!" Clint protested, incredulous.

"Don't you ever read any science news?" Bruce returned. "It's been an established consensus for years that many dinosaurs had feathers. He's gorgeous, isn't he?" Bruce reached out a hand to scratch Tony under the chin. Tony tilted his head and chirped, a sound that wasn't entirely displeased. "JARVIS? Can you run a scan and look for a species identification?"

"Will do, Dr. Banner," the AI replied.

Bruce patted Tony's feathered back, and then placed both hands on the dinosaur's shoulders to hold him steady. "Be a good boy and try to stay still for a moment, okay, Tony? This won't take long."

Tony chirped again, but stopped moving, as if he'd understood the instructions, and waited as the the lights of JARVIS's scanner passed over him.

Steve was still trying to grasp what Bruce had called Tony. "I thought dinosaurs were these massive bloodthirsty monsters."

"Some of them were, yes, but not nearly all. They came in countless shapes and sizes, both carnivores and herbivores," Bruce explained. "They're also considered the ancestors of modern birds."

"Creatures such as this exist on Midgard?" Thor asked, sounding mildly surprised.

"Not anymore," Natasha replied. "They went extinct millions of years ago. I'm surprised you don't know of them, since Loki clearly did."

Thor crossed his arms, a disgruntled expression crossing his face. "My brother has always been better versed in such lore than myself. This tends to cause nothing but trouble."

"But he said this is temporary?" Bruce asked.

"He said the spell only lasts for a day," Natasha confirmed.

"Analysis complete," JARVIS announced. "Identification successful."

Bruce moved over to the nearest computer display to skim through the results. "Well. It seems that for the duration of this spell, Tony is a fine specimen of the genus _Velociraptor_."

"But raptors are the things from Jurassic Park! They look nothing like him!" Clint complained, as if this were some kind of a personal insult, pointing a finger at Tony.

"That's because they got it all wrong. Movies do that. I guess they thought _Velociraptor_ sounded better than _Deinonychus_ ," Bruce said, with a shrug.

"Whatever those dinosaurs looked like, I doubt they had plumage like his," Natasha said. "And I imagine they would've been more threatening in general. He really doesn't seem like a raptor to me. Maybe we should call him a Tonysaurus."

"More like a Tinysaurus," Clint suggested, with a crooked grin.

Tony growled at Clint, probably picking up the mocking tone. Steve sat down next to him on the table, and placed a soothing hand on his neck, running his fingers gently along the feathers. They felt warm and surprisingly smooth to the touch.

"It's kind of a relief that he was turned into something that has such a large presence on the fossil record," Bruce added, cutting the snide remarks short.

"How so?" Steve asked.

"Imagine if it was something that no one had ever seen before," Bruce said, fiddling with his glasses as he spoke. "We'd have no idea if he was even a real creature, not to mention what kind of diet and behavior to expect. As it is, we are only running on the theories of paleobiologists."

Clint snorted, and stepped closer to ruffle the feathers on Tony’s tail. "Oh yeah? What theories are out there about veloci-chickens? Is there anything about the evolutionary purpose of gaudy feathers?"

Tony bristled, turning to glare at Clint, the claws on his feet tapping against the table.

"Well, they have quite a bit to say about their hunting habits, and judging by the way the retractable claws on his feet are twitching, Tony might just think of you as prey if you don't stop poking at him," Bruce pointed out.

"Sorry, dude," Clint said, quickly pulling his hand back.

Tony huffed at him, and moved over to settle on Steve's lap again. Steve felt both confused and oddly touched by how trusting of him Tony seemed to be, in this dinosaur form. He went on absently stroking Tony's side, and Tony let out a noise that was almost a purr.

"You think he's going to be okay like this for a whole day?" Steve asked.

"Can't see why he wouldn't be. Technically, one could say he's healthier now than he is in human form. No arc reactor, for one," Bruce replied. "And he seems to be taking this pretty well."

Tony let out a sharp, indignant screech at that, and Bruce's eyebrows shot up. "Huh. I wonder," he muttered thoughtfully, frowning at Tony. "I didn't consider this because it doesn't make any scientific sense, but since there's magic involved—Tony? Can you understand me? Nod if you can."

There was absolutely no mistaking the response as the dinosaur tilted his head up and down.

"Oh boy," Clint commented in the background.

Steve's hand froze on Tony's back. Tony understood what they were saying. Did that mean he was all there? His usual genius self, stuck inside this lizard-bird head? "You understand what's going on?" Steve asked him.

Tony nodded again, and breathed out an obviously discontented sigh.

"Yeah, I can imagine it's not fun. It's not permanent, though. It's just a day. You can handle it. We're all right here with you," Steve assured him, in the most encouraging voice he could muster.

"This might turn out to be a very long day," Natasha muttered under her breath.

"You think we could figure out some way to actually talk to him?" Steve asked.

"Probably," Bruce said thoughtfully. "I doubt he can type with those claws, though."

Tony waved his wing-like arms, and shook his head. As far as Steve could tell, his hands didn't turn at the wrist like a human's would, but were constantly stuck with the palms facing one another, and the clawed fingers did not look particularly dexterous.

"We could set up a communication device with symbols he could point at, but I'd say he seems to be communicating quite efficiently without one. I'll think about it." Bruce glanced at the computer screen with the results of JARVIS's analysis. "Anyway, the first priority is to see to his basic physical well-being. I think I should do some more research, maybe call a couple of experts to make sure we know all we can about his kind."

That gave Steve a mental image of a group of over-eager scientists poking needles at Tony's feather-covered skin, which made him shudder. "You're not planning on telling them about him, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it. As much as they might love getting data on a real, living, breathing dinosaur, I'm sure the whole magical transformation thing would make any results seriously flawed. Even if it didn't, I have no intention of letting anyone use him as a guinea pig," Bruce declared, looking affronted that Steve might even suggest such a thing. Of course, with Bruce's own complicated history with science experiments, Steve should've known better.

"Doctor Banner, if you have no further need of him, mayhaps the rest of us could go and have a bite to eat," Thor put in.

That was definitely a good idea. Thanks to their run-in with Loki, it had been far too many hours since breakfast. It was actually past lunchtime as well. Now that Thor mentioned it, Steve realized he was really hungry; he'd just been too busy worrying over Tony's transformation to pay any attention to it.

"What do Starkosauruses eat, anyway?" Clint asked.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Starkosauruses? Really?"

"Sounds better than Tonysaurus to me." Clint shrugged. "You said he's a predator? A meat-eater?"

"Definitely," Bruce said. "I'm going to assume that since he has the body of a dinosaur, the safest bet is the suitable diet for that dinosaur, and velociraptors are carnivores. Any raw meat should do, I'd guess."

Steve was glad to hear they wouldn't need to come up with anything more exotic than that. "That shouldn't be too difficult. Let's go, then!"

Not even stopping to think about it, Steve lifted Tony into his arms again as he stood up. Tony was so small and slender that it made him seem oddly fragile, despite the claws and teeth. There was absolutely no reason why Tony couldn't walk himself, but he made no protest against being carried. Really, he was being uncharacteristically docile. Maybe he wasn't all there, even if he understood speech to some extent. It was difficult to be sure when he wasn't able to talk, and had a far more limited range of facial expressions than usual.

"Any preferences for lunch?" Steve asked the others once they'd filed out of the lab and into the elevator.

"Buffalo wings? Chicken nuggets?" Clint suggested. "Roasted turkey?"

That definitely got a protest out of Tony. The dinosaur hissed and leaped from Steve's arms to land on Clint's chest, clinging to the leather of his costume with his claws. He snapped his jaws at Clint's face, showing off his teeth.

Clint backed away into the nearest wall, arms spread in a placating gesture. "Okay, yes, that was bad! Sorry! I'll try to tone it down!"

Tony dropped off of Clint and onto the floor, and walked over to stand at Steve's feet. Steve reached down to scratch his head.

"Jeez! Did that transformation remove his sense of humor, too?" Clint muttered grouchily.

Natasha elbowed him in the ribs. "I doubt you'd have found that very funny if you were the one stuck as a dino."

"Are you kidding me?" Clint's expression lightened up again. "I've had so much practice I'm already immune to bird jokes!"

"In any case, I think I shall refrain from poultry today," Thor said. "I crave some of that delicious pasta with bacon!"

"Italian sounds good to me, too," Natasha agreed.

Luckily, their regular place was used to getting eccentric requests from the Avengers, and Steve was easily able to talk them into adding a couple of extra-rare steaks to their order. Waiting for the delivery, the Avengers switched into civilian clothes, taking turns to keep an eye on Tony.

Setting the table raised some questions. It didn't really feel right to make Tony eat on the floor like the family pet, so in the end, Steve set out a plate for him as well, and placed a couple of pillows on a chair so that he could reach it easily.

Any remaining impression of Tony's current form being mostly harmless and sweet was definitely gone once he had a steak in front of him. The way he made quick work of it, holding on with clawed hands and tearing with his teeth, had even Clint staring at him with wide eyes and newly found respect. On second thought, maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea to make him eat on the floor. It was definitely a good thing none of the Avengers were particularly squeamish.

When Tony had emptied his plate, almost as fast as Thor, there was blood dripping from his teeth and claws, and he cast Clint a glare that seemed to say "this could've been you". That should put an end to the chicken jokes, Steve figured.

"Uh, I think he might want to clean up now," Clint said, his own food barely half-finished for all the gaping he'd been doing.

"I think you're right," Steve said. He got up to fetch a large bowl which he filled with water, and set on the floor by the table.

As the rest of them went on to finish their meal, Tony first drank from the bowl—like a bird, throwing his head back to swallow—and then spent a long time getting rid of every last speck of blood. Apparently happy with the result, he then went on to preen his feathers all around. It almost seemed like another transformation of its own, Tony going from a dangerous beast to a big, innocuous fluffy bird within the space of a few minutes.

With everyone happily fed, Steve picked up Tony's washing bowl and poured the contents down the drain. He was just done rinsing it when there was the thump of something landing on the kitchen counter close to him. Startled, he turned to look, and saw that Tony had, incredibly enough, been able to leap all the way up from the floor to stand on the counter.

Tony flapped his wing-arms at Steve, made a series of high-pitched, demanding noises, and nudged the coffeemaker with his snout.

Steve couldn't hide his grin. Of course. Even being turned into an extinct bird ancestor couldn't touch the true love between Tony and his coffee. The question was, though, would it be okay for a dinosaur to drink coffee?

He decided he'd better check first. "JARVIS? Patch me through to Bruce, please."

After a few seconds, Bruce picked up: "What is it, Steve? Our Starkosaurus giving you trouble?"

"Are we really calling him that?" Steve groaned.

"It's not a bad name. There's an actual genus called _Staurikosaurus_ , I like how similar it sounds. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Can I give him coffee?"

"No, don't. Not a good idea," Bruce replied right away, his tone urgent.

Tony chittered angrily at the words, stepping from one foot to the other.

"Not even a small amount?" Steve had to try. "He's being very insistent."

"He's also not a human, but a much smaller animal with a different metabolism. I'm no botanist, but I doubt coffee beans were even around in the Cretaceous Period. He could be seriously affected by even a small amount of caffeine," Bruce reasoned. "Tony, I can hear that!" He raised his voice to cut through the racket the dinosaur was making. "Really. I know you love your coffee, but it's not worth dying for. You don't want to end up with a fatal arrhythmia, do you?"

That finally made Tony fall quiet, his reptilian eyes going a little wider.

"Decaf probably wouldn't hurt, but I guess that's not the same," Bruce added.

Tony shook his head, huffed, and jumped back onto the floor.

"Chocolate is a definite no, too, by the way. It has similar chemicals. To be safe, I'd stick to just meat and water. I'm still waiting to catch hold of an expert whose brain I can pick for the latest research."

"Okay. Let us know if you learn anything important," Steve finished the call.

"No coffee and no chocolate?" Clint commented. "Aw, now I really feel sorry for him. I think I'll go get my caffeine from somewhere else, just to be safe."

"I'll join you," Natasha said. "Unless Tony prefers we stay?"

Tony chirruped and waved his head from side to side in a gesture that seemed halfway between 'no' and a shrug.

"I think we're good," Steve said.

"We could catch a movie later?" Clint suggested.

Steve eyed him suspiciously. "As long as it's not going to be a joke on him."

"We can let Stark pick," Natasha said.

"This is a fine suggestion!" Thor said. "Now, I shall go acquire some pastries! Our stock has run out!"

The three others left the room, and Steve found himself alone with Tony.

"Just you and me then, huh. What now? You want to, I don't know, watch a show, or something? Listen to music?" Steve racked his brain for a pastime that would be fun for Tony when he couldn't speak and didn't have a whole lot of manual dexterity.

Instead of replying in any sounds or gestures, Tony headed across the room to a couch and leaped onto it. Slightly puzzled, Steve followed him and sat down next to him. Tony snuggled closer, placed his head on Steve's thigh, and yawned, his jaws opening wide, revealing those rows of terrifying teeth and a long pink tongue.

"Oh, you're tired? That's okay. We don't have to do anything right now. You can take a nap if you want to." Steve patted Tony's side, and went on stroking his feathers once again.

Tony closed his eyes, and within a few minutes, he seemed fast asleep, soft snoring emanating from where he'd tucked his snout under his wing.

Somewhat relieved that his dino-sitting was turning out to be much easier than expected, Steve decided to use the time off to work on his report of the day's mission. He spent a fair amount of time on it, taking notes with JARVIS's voice interface. Tony didn't seem to mind him talking but slept on, occasionally shifting position, yet never breaking skin contact with Steve.

The report done, Steve went on to check the news. Fortunately, no one had caught sight of the transformation. No candid shots of a strange red and gold lizard-bird floating around the internet, thank goodness.

At this point, Steve was starting to feel like doing something else than lounging on the couch. It'd been almost two hours. Actually, it was about time for him to hit the gym.

"Tony?" He nudged the dinosaur cautiously, keeping a close eye on the claws. If Tony woke up confused, he could easily be dangerous.

Tony stirred, and made an annoyed-sounding chirp.

"Feel like getting up for a change?" Steve suggested.

Tony tried to push his snout between Steve's thigh and the sofa cushions. That would be a no, then.

Steve was starting to wonder if he should be worried. Was this normal behavior? Sure, it had been a rough day for Tony, but it was only half past four.

He decided he'd better ask Bruce.

"I was just about to come see you," Bruce told him. "I had a long phone call with one of the top experts on maniraptoran theropods. Turns out velociraptors are probably nocturnal. It's really not surprising if Tony's drowsy."

"Right. He's kind of nocturnal in human form, too," Steve noted, slightly amused, running his fingers absently along Tony's spine.

"It might be relevant to this conversation that Sir went to sleep at 5:38 this morning," JARVIS piped up.

"Exactly what I meant." Steve shook his head. Tony's sleep schedule seemed even worse than he'd thought. "Wow. He can't have slept for more than three hours. I feel a bit stupid for not thinking about that."

"Well, it's a new situation to all of us," Bruce said. "Anyway, let him sleep. If he doesn't get more active when the sun sets, that's a cause for concern, but I bet he's going to be a menace. You might want to prepare for a sleepless night."

"How did this become my job anyway," Steve complained half-heartedly. "You know way more about dinosaurs."

"Honestly, if you'd rather someone else looked after him, I'm sure that can be arranged," Bruce said, all matter-of-fact. "I might not be the best pick, though. I think dinosaurs are fascinating, but my greener self could get confused."

"Nah, really, I'm okay with this. It's not a problem. He seems to trust me. That makes things easier," Steve said. "So, anything else you found out that I should know?"

"Mostly I got a lot of theories about hunting and nesting behavior. Hopefully not relevant. Oh, and, Tony's going to love this: apparently a fairly good modern equivalent metabolism-wise would be a kiwi bird."

Steve was no more an expert in birds than he was in dinosaurs, but he was fairly sure he could remember this one. "A kiwi? That's from New Zealand, right? A kind of… round and hairy bird?"

"Yes. It's flightless and ground-dwelling, so it's somewhat similar. I'm not sure how this knowledge actually helps us, but that's what I've got," Bruce said. Steve could practically hear the shrug in his tone.

"Don't tell that to Clint. He'd never let Tony forget it."

His concerns over Tony's well-being settled, Steve decided he might as well go on with his day like he usually would. Explaining to a half-awake Tony what he was doing so as not to startle him, he picked up a couple of pillows and the sleepy dinosaur, and relocated to the gym. It wouldn't have felt right to leave Tony asleep in the common room all alone, after all. He might wake up and not remember he was a dinosaur, and Steve didn't want him to be on his own if that happened.

Steve kept glancing at the sleepy dinosaur on his bed of pillows as he proceeded with his workout. He wished things were like this when Tony was a human. That they wouldn't constantly snipe at one another, but could trust each other and hang out and possibly take naps on one another's lap—

His mind did a double take on that last thought, which really had come from out of nowhere. Steve punched the bag a little harder, trying to get rid of the outlandish idea. That was certainly something that was never going to happen.

Natasha and Clint showed up half an hour later. Of course, they spotted Tony in his corner and had to stop to stare at him.

"Aw," Natasha said, squatting in front of him. "I think he's very cute like this. Don't tell him I said that."

"Looks cute, will kill you without breaking a sweat," Clint muttered. "I think he reminds me of someone."

Natasha side-eyed him. "Did you just call me cute?"

"You? I was talking about Mr. Apple Pie over there." Clint nodded towards Steve.

Tony opened one eye, harrumphed at them, and yawned one of his very toothy yawns.

"Okay, okay, we'll leave you to your beauty sleep," Clint said quickly, and backed away.

They didn't bother him again after that, sticking to their exercise routines as if he wasn't in the room.

All in all, the afternoon turned out to be incredibly normal, considering that one of them was stuck as an extinct animal. They finished their workouts, had their showers, and ate dinner, which Tony didn't seem interested in, preferring to keep napping. Bruce reassured them that this was to be expected, and Steve tried not to be concerned. It just felt so _wrong_ for Tony to be so lethargic.

Afterwards, they watched a movie, like Clint had suggested, though Tony didn't pick it. After a brief negotiation which involved promising Clint that they would watch Jurassic Park at some later date, because apparently Steve absolutely needed to see it, they ended up watching Ice Age. Steve found it more entertaining and less confusing than "computer animated comedy about extinct mammals" had made it sound.

Tony spent most of the movie curled up on Steve's lap, oblivious to the world. Maybe halfway through it, he started getting a little restless, constantly changing position.

Just as the animal heroes of the movie were handing the baby human back to his tribesmen, Tony scrambled onto his feet. Steve could feel his claws through his jeans as he shifted weight from one foot to the other. It didn't hurt more than a cat kneading at him would've, but it was a little unsettling.

"Morning, Tony," Steve greeted him, and placed a hand on his back to keep him steady. "The movie's almost over, let's watch the rest of it, okay?"

Tony chirped once and settled down again. The difference to before he'd woken up was like night and day, though. He just wouldn't stay still, but kept squirming about and prodding at Steve and Thor, who sat next to them. Petting and scratching his feathers didn't make him relax, either. Really, this was more like Steve would've expected Tony to be as a dinosaur. He must've been more docile than usual during the day because the transformation had taken place when this species of dinosaur would've normally been sleeping.

As soon as the end credits rolled, Tony jumped to the floor. He flapped his wings insistently and walked about, and Steve couldn't help thinking that in that moment, Tony did look an awful lot like an overgrown chicken.

"Okay, what is it?" Steve asked, standing up as well.

Tony motioned towards the kitchen with his snout.

"Oh! Right, you missed dinner," Steve realized. He should've thought of it earlier. "Sorry about that. Let's go get you some breakfast."

Steve followed Tony to the kitchen, got him another steak from the fridge, and this time, decided to place it on the floor, with the bowl of water next to it.

"You seem like a natural at this," Natasha noted, stopping next to Steve to watch Tony tear off pieces of meat. "Ever have any pets?"

"First of all, he's Tony and not a pet," Steve replied sharply. "And no, I never did."

Natasha looked mildly amused at the rebuke. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Of course he's not."

Tony only ate half the steak this time, apparently satisfied with that, so Steve put the rest of it back in the fridge, unappetizing though it looked. No doubt Tony would be hungry again soon enough, with how energetic he now seemed.

The next question was how to keep Tony occupied for the rest of the night.

"I've got an idea," Bruce said, a big mug of tea clasped between his hands. "How about you all change into costumes and spend some time in the sparring room with him? I bet whatever dinosaur instincts he picked up in this transformation are telling him to go hunt for more food soon, even if he knows he doesn't have to."

"A fine suggestion, but why in costumes?" Thor asked.

Clint stopped crunching at the remainder of their popcorn, raising his eyebrows at Thor. "Of course in costumes! Have you not seen those claws?"

"It's a great idea," Steve said. "I take it that you won't be joining in yourself, Bruce?"

"I think that's best for all of us. I can look after him while you get changed."

Steve felt oddly reluctant to leave Tony's company even for a short time. He'd already grown used to having the dinosaur constantly by his side. It was going to be strange when Tony was back to human form and avoiding him most of the time.

When he got to the gym in costume, he found Bruce sitting cross-legged in front of Tony on the sparring mats. The dinosaur was giving Bruce an intent glare, head tilted and eyes narrowed in the most thoughtful expression Steve had yet seen him make. As soon as he noticed Steve, though, he seemed to completely forget about Bruce and rushed to greet him, chattering happily.

Steve found himself grinning. "Hi again, Tony. Bruce giving you a headache?" He scratched the top of Tony's head. Tony butted his head against Steve's hand like a cat.

Bruce got up, a smile on his lips as well. "I was just trying to give him some mental gymnastics before you get to the physical exercise."

The other three Avengers appeared within a few minutes, all looking quite chipper though it was well past ten at night.

"I've seen the way you glare at me, Stark. Well, now's your chance. Catch me if you can, chicken legs!" Clint told Tony, and took off at a run for the other end of the room. Tony rushed after him.

Before Steve could join the chase, Bruce pulled him to the side by the arm. "So, I was actually trying to figure out how much he remembers and understands."

"And?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows, very curious about his conclusions.

Bruce crossed his arms, glancing at Tony, who had caught Clint and leaped onto his back, making the archer do his damnedest to shake him off. "It's a bit difficult to be sure. He seems to have most of his mind intact, but maybe a bit scrambled. For example, I managed to get ten digits of pi and the first five prime numbers out of him, but then he either didn't remember or just got distracted. I'm not sure if the problem is his memory or his attention span, could easily be either."

That sounded about right to Steve, from what he'd seen so far. "His mind's certainly a bit scrambled. I mean, in human form, he doesn't enjoy my company very much. More like the opposite."

Bruce peered at him over the rim of his glasses. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Really? You need to ask? You've seen us, right?"

Bruce held his eyes for a few more seconds, then looked away again. "Well. I'm not going to get involved in this. You two have to sort it out between yourselves."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Steve said glumly. That reminded him of a thing he'd been thinking about, though: "Do you think he'll remember what happened once he's human again?"

"No idea. I don't know how these things usually work," Bruce said. "Thor might know better."

Steve should've thought of that himself. Thor was the closest thing they had to an expert on Asgardian magic, after all. Set on getting an answer to his question, Steve managed to catch hold of Thor for a moment, while Tony seemed happy enough playing with Natasha and Clint. They'd ended up practicing a complex fight choreography that involved flinging Tony at one another.

"I take it that you've seen this sort of spell before?" Steve began. "Do you think Tony will remember all of this when it wears off?"

"I suppose he will, although it might seem distant and strange to him, almost like a dream," Thor replied. "That is usually the case. I do think Loki would want him to remember, to make the insult longer-lasting."

"Maybe the memories won't be all bad," Steve said.

They spent several hours playing with Tony. Despite Steve's earlier insistence that Tony wasn't a pet, it was a lot like trying to entertain an overeager puppy. They went through pretty much everything they could think of, from tag to wrestling to honest-to-God fetch. Tony didn't seem to mind the simplicity of it, and was actually very good at it, unerringly leaping to catch each ball thrown for him with his teeth. A few ended up shredded beyond future use. When Tony finally started to lose interest, the clock was approaching one.

"Would it be bad if I wanted to call this a night?" Clint asked, attempting to suppress a yawn.

"Nah, it's getting late," Steve said. "You can all go and hit the sack. I've got this."

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked. "You don't need to stay up all night with him. We could take shifts."

"It's fine, I can get along with less sleep than the rest of you," Steve assured him. Not that he didn't feel tired—he was pretty sure he'd fall asleep in half a minute if he sat down and closed his eyes—but he could manage.

"Don't hesitate to wake us up if you need anything," Natasha said.

"Thanks," Steve said, though he didn't plan on bothering the others if he could avoid it.

With the other four Avengers heading out of the room, Steve turned to Tony. "So, what next? Want to run around some more?"

Tony shook his head, opened and closed his jaws a few times, and licked his chops.

"Hungry again? Okay. Back to the kitchen it is."

There was a steak and a half left in the fridge. Steve put them both in front of Tony, who rapidly devoured them. Clearly, a couple of hours of what stood in for hunting had left him with an appetite to match.

Steve had a late night snack himself, and decided that before they did anything else, he wanted to get rid of his costume. He didn't plan on spending the rest of the night wearing it, after all. He led the way to the locker room, with Tony jogging by him to match his strides.

"Stay here," he told Tony at the door. "I'll be back in a minute."

After a quick shower, not because he felt particularly sweaty but more to stay awake, and a change of clothes, Steve returned to see no sign of the dinosaur.

"Tony?" he called out. "Tony, where did you go?"

The room around him was perfectly quiet. Where could Tony have gone? Could he—of course he could open doors. He was Tony Stark.

Steve felt like an idiot.

He popped his head into the corridor. It was equally empty. "Tony!" he tried, but there was no reply. "JARVIS, did you see where he went?"

"He may be closer than you think, Captain," JARVIS said in what could only be called a long-suffering voice.

Steve retreated back into the locker room. "Tony. This isn't funny. Where are you?"

There was a slight chirping sound that was almost a chuckle from somewhere right by Steve's feet.

Steve crouched to the floor, and noticed that a panel in one wall that he had never paid any attention to had been detached, revealing a hole much too small for a human, but more than large enough for Tony in his current shape. Steve peered in to catch the unmistakable glimmer of light on Tony's golden-yellow eyes.

"What're you doing in there?" Steve grumbled at him. "Come on out."

Tony made an indignant huff.

"Tony. Are you angry at me?"

The small roar that was Tony's reply definitely sounded like a yes.

"What did I do?" Steve asked, confused. He tried to think back on what might've brought this on. Of course, he hadn't let Tony come and watch while he stripped and showered, because he'd felt a little self-conscious about that, but surely Tony wouldn't—oh. It dawned on him then what he'd unthinkingly said to Tony at the door.

"I told you to 'stay', didn't I?" Steve wanted to slap himself. "I didn't mean it like that, I swear. I know you're still you, Tony."

This time, there was no answer at all. Steve sighed. "Are you going to spend the rest of the night sulking in there? It can't be very comfortable."

He tried to come up with something to appease Tony. Something they could do, maybe. Some kind of a treat. They'd already done plenty of exercise. Tony had been awake for some of the movie, and hadn't seem too interested in it. He realized that Tony hadn't really had much say in what they were doing, except when he'd decided to nap, and when he'd decided to have food. It was, of course, a little tricky for him to suggest anything very complicated. What would Tony want to do?

There was a glaringly obvious answer, one that Steve should've thought of hours ago. Probably would've, if they hadn't ended up spending most of the day with Tony asleep.

What did Tony ever want to do? Where did he go when he had extra time on his hands?

"We could go to your workshop. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

It was the perfect solution, really. Tony could run around as much as he wanted to in there, and maybe he could even use the computers. He could probably keep himself entertained without Steve doing much at all, with JARVIS around, too. In any case, Steve was sure Tony remembered and understood enough not to unintentionally break anything.

A golden snout emerged from the hole in the wall. Tony growled at Steve, and then crawled out of his hiding place. His feathers seemed dusty all over, with a few proper dust bunnies clinging to them.

With slow and cautious moves, his sense of self-preservation shouting at him that this wasn't smart, Steve reached out to dust Tony off. Tony huffed, but let him do it anyway.

"Sorry. Really, I just wasn't thinking," Steve said placatingly. "Won't happen again. Promise."

Tony seemed to consider this for a moment, tilting his head from one side to the other, and finally chirped once, nudged Steve's knee, and pushed him towards the door.

Steve chuckled. "Okay, yes, going. Can we stop by my room on the way? I want to pick up a few things," he asked as he stepped out of the door, this time following Tony and not the other way around.

Tony stopped for a few seconds to nod his acceptance.

The reason Steve wanted to make the detour was that he'd spent the whole long day with the idea of trying to draw Tony at the back of his mind. It was a truly unique opportunity, after all. As an afterthought, while collecting his art supplies, he also picked up a blanket; he was really starting to feel the weight of the long day behind them.

A few steps into Tony's workshop, they were waylaid by a bot that extended a vaguely threatening mechanical arm towards Tony.

"Sorry, Sir," JARVIS spoke up. "I attempted to explain your situation to them, but it seems they find the concept difficult to understand."

"Can't really blame them," Steve said.

Tony approached the bot—DUM-E, going by the label—cautiously, his eyes on the arm, making soothing, unthreatening noises. In response, the bot lowered its arm, allowing Tony to give it a pat with his snout.

The bot let out a soft whirring sound and backed away.

"Not yet convinced that this is Sir, but certain that he's not a threat," JARVIS translated the exchange for Steve.

Tony made a long series of chirps that seemed meant for JARVIS.

"I'm afraid I haven't quite worked out your speech patterns yet," JARVIS apologized. "I suspect a holographic interface would be the best approach."

As JARVIS spoke, one area of the workshop not far from them lit up with the sophisticated holographic images floating in the air that Tony used for most of his work. Tony jogged to it, gesturing at things with his snout and wings.

Steve figured he probably wouldn't be able to understand what Tony was up to no matter how hard he tried. Really, he couldn't even tell if what he was looking at now was some kind of a design project, or a computer game.

Leaving Tony to his holograms, Steve retreated to the couch in one corner of the room and opened his sketchbook. He'd guessed he wouldn't be able to use Tony as a reference with him bustling about the shop, all excited about whatever he was working on. Instead, he'd memorized the way Tony had looked when he'd been sleeping, so much like some beautiful exotic bird, and he'd been itching to try and put that on paper ever since. If there were any additional details he needed, Tony was close by, so he could easily check.

Before he'd managed to draw anything he was even close to satisfied with, Steve found his eyelids trying to slide shut on their own accord. He rubbed at his eyes, and glanced at Tony once more. He was still immersed in arranging unrecognizable floating objects into different configurations. 

JARVIS was keeping an eye on Tony, and would probably tell him off if he tried to do anything stupid. Steve could take a nap.

Thankful for his foresight of bringing a blanket, Steve covered himself with it and settled comfortably on the couch.

He woke up, certain that he had only just closed his eyes, to the feeling of a weight against him, and something warm pressing into his neck. Steve blinked blearily. It was Tony, of course, curled up on the couch on top of the blanket, his head resting under Steve's chin. Apparently, he'd finally grown tired as well.

"JARVIS? What time is it?" Steve asked.

"It is 6:43AM, Captain. Long past sunrise," JARVIS informed him.

Steve yawned, wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and go back to sleep right away, but the couch wasn't the most comfortable place for it.

He rearranged the blanket around Tony, who stirred slightly and whined.

"Never expected to tell you this, but I'm gonna take you to my room. I think we'll both sleep better there," Steve said—and bit his tongue as soon as the words were out. Tony would never let that pass if he remembered it. Good thing he was probably too out of it to catch the exact phrasing.

Tony in his arms once again, as a blanket-wrapped bundle of feathers and claws, Steve stumbled into the elevator and through the quiet early morning corridors of the Tower to his room.

Steve didn't stop to think if it was wise to share his bed with a dinosaur as he placed Tony on the mattress and tucked the blanket around him. He didn't bother to change clothes properly, either, only kicked off his shoes and jeans before he settled down next to Tony.

The last thing Steve was aware of as he drifted to sleep again was Tony's soft breathing against his neck.

He slept well, better than he had in many nights, after the endlessly long day. Sharing the bed with a dinosaur didn't disturb his dreams. More like the opposite.

When he came to, it was to the gnawing feeling that something wasn't quite right.

For a confused, half-awake moment, Steve couldn't understand at all where he was, or why there would be someone in bed with him. When he remembered about Tony's transformation, he moved his hand, which he expected to be resting on Tony's back. It felt all wrong, far too smooth. There were no feathers under his fingers, and the ticklish feeling under his chin didn't feel familiar, either.

Steve opened his eyes, pulled his hand back and moved away from Tony on the bed as the disturbing realization dawned.

Tony was still curled up next to him, but no longer a dinosaur. He was also completely naked, though at least he was partially covered by the blanket.

There were a few stray feathers in Tony's hair still, gleaming golden and red in the faint light filtering in between the blinds, and Steve couldn't help thinking that he still looked, well, kind of cute. Really, how had he never paid attention to that before?

He knew he should do something about this. It just wasn't right, having Tony naked in his bed. Then again, Tony had been more or less himself all along. He could've just not stayed in Steve's bed. He could've grabbed pillows and blankets and made a nest on the floor. He'd certainly had no obligation to spend a good part of the daylight hours dozing on Steve's lap, and yet he'd done that.

Everyone had been commenting on how well Steve got along with him. Besides, Steve would've been the one stuck as a dinosaur if Tony hadn't taken that hit for him. It had to mean something.

Steve was still struggling to decide what his next move should be when Tony muttered something indistinct, flung an arm around Steve's waist, and snuggled closer to him again.

Steve didn't have the heart to wake him up. He could only imagine how tired Tony would be after the crazy day he'd had.

They would talk later. It'd probably be really awkward.

For now, Steve placed his hand on Tony's back, pressed his chin into Tony's hair, and closed his eyes again.

He could get used to this, he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr post for the fic (with a handy size comparison chart!) can be found [here](http://veldeia.tumblr.com/post/157874548016/steve-and-the-starkosaurus-the-round-the-clock)!


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